Ironing table top



June 1, 1943. E. T. JOHN IRONING TABLE TOP Filed Nov. 22, 1940 I nve n'to r:

Edward T. J'ohn. w- W7 tier-neg,

Patented June 1, 1943 IRONING TABLE TOP Edward T. John, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to The J. R. Clark Company, Minneapolis, MllllL, a

corporation Application November 22, 1940, Serial No. 366,537

4 Claims.

My invention relates to ironing table tops and has for its object to provide an ironing table top wherein the ironing surface has a reater part of its area open so that when ironing takes place upon it or over the pad rested on such surfaces the moisture from the dampened clothes being ironed will be able to be driven directly downwardly from the damp clothes and through the pad to escape from the underside of the board.

In the practice of ironing clothes it has been customary to provide an ironing table top which is wholly imperforate or substantially imperiorate, said top being constructed of wood or of metal. The well-known ironing operation consists in pressing a heated flat iron over dampened clothes which lie over a pad on this imperforate top. The steam generated by the heat of the iron can only escape upwardly after the iron has passed over the clothes. This escaping steam goes into the face and over the hands and arms of the ironer and has always been recognized as a disadvantage to be encountered in connection with the ironing act.

It is the principal advantage of my invention to form the ironing table top of a substantially uniform sheet or layer of metal wherein there are a multiplicity of openings occupying a large part of the area of the surface of said metal.

Specifically it is an object of my invention to form an ironing table top of fiat expanded metal top of woven wire held by a supporting framework so as to be substantially fiat, the numerous openings between the strands occupying much the greater part of the area of the ironing table top.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an ironing table top provided with a metallic supporting framework and with a surface formed by a sheet of flat expanded metal wherein the openings through said metal comprise more than one-half of the area. of the sheet.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in detail in the description herein to be given, and the novel features thereof whereby the aforesaid advantageous results are secured are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing illustrating an application of my invention in one form Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an ironing table top embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an underside plan view of the ironing table top.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the ironing table top indicating the position of the support for the same.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the ironing table top taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional end view of a rear corner of the ironing table top shown in Fig. 5 with a pad applied thereto, the pad being shown in section.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a form of wire mesh employed in making the surface element of the ironing table top.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a portion of a sheet of expanded metal which isemployed in place of the wire mesh in making the top surface of the ironing table top.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the expanded metal of Fig. 7 showing that the expanded metal has a flat surface.

Fig. 9 is a sectional perspective view of a modified form of rib employed in the ironing table top.

As shown in Fig. 2, a framework, preferably of metal, is formed of central longitudinal members I0 each provided with a central rib II and base member I2. A surrounding rim I3 provided with vfrontnarrowed portions I4 and I5 and a rear portion I6 receives the ends of the bars I0 and also has secured to it the ends of transverse bars I1, I8 and I9 which engage the base members I2 of the longitudinal frame members I0, and together form a framework for supporting the ironing table top. Short transverse bars 20 and 2| provide a support for rear legs indicated diagrammatically at 22, Fig, 3. The front legs also indicated diagrammatically. at 23, Fig. 3, are

adapted to be secured to the transverse bars I! with a front brace rod 24, Fig. 3 of customary construction. A

As shown in Fig. 4 the transverse members I9 (as is true 'also of members I1 and I8) are provided with bottom portions 25 and sloping portions 26 and raised end portions 21. The edges of rib members II and the tops of end members 21 come in a common plane. Upon this framework is laid a sheet of woven wire 28 of a mesh such that perhaps from to of the area of the entire sheet will be openings between the wires. The wire mesh is drawn down around the outside of the rim member I3 as indicated at 30 in Figs. 3 and 4. The rim member I3 is provided with a horizontal portion 3| which overlies the horizontal portions 21 of the transverse members I'I, I8 and I9. A vertical portion 32 is provided and a. horizontal li 33 is crimped over a corresponding lip 34, Fig. 4, of the woven wire sheet 28. This crimping 33 goes all the way around the ironing board and has the effect of drawing the woven wire forming the surface portion of the ironing table top very tight. Yet there will be enough yield to the table top when it is used in ironing to permit the iron to seat itself most effectively on the clothes over the pad.

A portion of this pad is shown in detailat 36 of Fig. 5. The pad 36 may be made of any desired material which will permit the ready passage of moisture and it will preferably be overlaid'by a cover 31 which is carried under the flange 33, as indicated at 39. The part 39 may be a narrowed elastic portion which will hold the cover tightly upon the table top in a well-known manner.

In place of the woven wire or mesh metal tol I may use what is known as expanded metal, which, as shown in Fig. '7, comprises transverse strands 4B and 4| with intervening roughly diamond shape openings 42. An advantage of expanded metal is that it is perfectly flat, all of its surfaces on each side lying in single planes, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 6, the woven wire or mesh machine provides crossing strands 43 and 44 with rectangular spaces 45 between said strands. Although the resulting surface is slightly uneven, in practice when using the pad 36 such an uneven surface will be immaterial to the ironing operation.

While I have shown T-shaped longitudinal supports in in the general frame of the device, I

other forms may be used, such as indicated at 46 in Fig. 9,.it being essential, however, that the operation of the support which actually is engaged by the woven wire or expanded metal top shall be relatively very narrow to leave the largest possible free or open spaces between the strands of metal forming the top.

The advantages of my invention have been pointed out more or less in detail in the foregoing description. There are two fundamental and highly important advantages. First, the construction is such that there is substantially complete freedom of steam formed under the hot flat iron to pass downwardly through the pad and the ironing board top to atmosphere below the board. This results in much faster ironing as ordinarily a single passage of the iron is sufficient to set the fabric in position, and it further results in better ironing, since the setting of the fabric is definitely more permanent and gives a smoother ironed surface.

The second great advantage of this invention comes from the fact that the ironing table top is entirely of metal, hence cannot shrink or expand or warp or get out of condition. The metal parts will be thoroughly protected by some rust-proof coating and an ironing table top embodying this form of metal top will have a very long life. Where the metallic top is formed either of woven wire or fiat expanded metal, as distinguished from metallic tops where the top surface consists of a sheet of metal with or without holes punched therein, stresses resulting from expansion throughthe application of heat do not distort the plane surface of the top. In the operation of ironing the metal top will be subject to temperatures up to 212 F., due to the steam produced beneath the ironing surface, and such a temperature will cause localized expansion in a metal top of a single sheet, with resultant warping or buckling of the surface. But with the 4 top of my invention, wherein strands of wire or flat expanded metal is employed, the metallic elements lie in transverse and zigzag lines so that the tendency for expension is met by slight deflection sidewise of the several elements, thus maintaining a true plane surface at all times.

I claim:

1. An ironing table top formed with a rectangular portion and a continuous narrowed portion extending therefrom, comprising a framework having a continuous rim part extending about all said portions and extending downwardly from the upper part of the frame, a series of longitudinal supporting members having narrow upper edges in a common plane, a sheet of wire screen material supported upon the edges of said longitudinal members and extending to overlie and pass downwardly over said upper part and said downwardly extending rim of said framework rim, said framework rim having a portion formed to clamp and conceal all edges of the sheet of wire screen material.

2. An ironing table top formed with a rectangular portion and a continuous narrowed portion extending therefrom and comprising a framework having a downwardly extending rim about the edges of both said portions, a sheet of wire screen material supported by said framework and having a downwardly turned rim in engagement with said framework rim about all of said ironing table top, a horizontally extended flange about the edge portions of the wire screen material, and a double flange of the framework rim crimped over all edge parts of said screen flange to cover and secure them upon the framework.

3. An ironing table top comprising an outer rim extending about the outer limits of the ironing table top, a series of truss members secured to said rim and extending transversely across the ironing table top, a series of longitudinal inverted T-members having their bases resting upon the truss members and having the upper narrow edges of the T's in a common plane, and a sheet of wirescreen material resting upon said T-rnembers and having its edges secured to the outer margins of the rim.

4. An ironing table top comprising an outer rim extending about the outer limits of the ironing table top and having a downwardly turned flange, a series of truss members secured to the upper portion of said rim and extending across the ironing table top, a series of longitudinal inverted T-members having their bases resting upon the truss members and having the upper narrow edges of the Ts in a common plane, and a sheet of wire screen material resting upon said T-members and having its outer portions turned downwardly along said flange and secured thereto and having its edges outwardly turned, and an extension of the flange overlying and covering said outwardly turned edges.

EDWARD T. JOHN. 

